Israeli and US forces struck Iranian fuel depots and desalination plants overnight on Saturday, signalling an escalation in the war, while Tehran retaliated by carrying out strikes on industrial and airport facilities across the Gulf .
Israel announced it had launched a widescale attack on Tehran, following a campaign of bombardment on the Iranian capital that targeted at least four oil depots and a logistics site used to transport petroleum products.
Overnight, vast plumes of flame and smoke towered over Tehran, as videos from residents showed multiple fires turning the skyline into an orange haze.
Authorities from Iran’s national oil company subsequently confirmed five facilities were damaged. Four tanker drivers were killed in the joint Israeli-US strikes on oil depots in the country’s Tehran and Alborz provinces.
The attacks follow previous US strikes on a freshwater desalination plant in Iran’s Qeshm Island on Saturday, which impacted water supply to some 30 villages. Iran launches more attacks on Gulf states Also overnight, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced they had carried out their 27th wave of attacks against Israeli and American targets in the region, involving both missiles and drones.
In Bahrain, an Iranian drone strike caused damage to a desalination plant after hitting the facility early on Sunday morning.
Although Bahrain’s electricity and water authority said water and power supplies were not impacted by the attack, it marked the first time Iran struck a desalination plant in the Gulf since the start of the regional conflict just over a week ago.
Three people were also injured after missile fragments from an Iranian attack struck and damaged a university building in the Muharraq area of the country, Bahrain said.
Meanwhile in Kuwait, a large fire broke out at the country’s sole international airport following an Iranian drone strike on an adjacent fuel depot .
Videos also showed flames engulfing the upper floors of Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security, a government building located in Kuwait City.
Kuwait’s interior ministry said early Sunday that two border guards were killed "while performing their national duty".
Iranian forces, for their part, claim to have targeted Kuwait’s Camp Buehring facility housing US troops, although CENTCOM has not commented on the matter.
Air defences were activated in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia , with Saudi authorities saying a drone attack was thwarted over Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter.
A drone reportedly heading towards the country’s Shaybah oil field was likewise intercepted and destroyed, the Saudi defence ministry said. Tehran walks back statement claiming ‘halt’ to attacks on Gulf The attacks come a day after Iran’s President Pezeshkian’s statement apologising to neighbouring countries for the regional conflict and saying Tehran would not attack the states unless the attacks originated from there.
On Sunday, Iranian state television quoted the president as saying that "The enemy has distorted my words and wants to sow discord with our neighbours". He added that attacks on the countries in the Gulf "do not mean we have a problem with them".
Reports suggest Saudi Arabia informed Tehran that although the Kingdom would prefer a diplomatic solution to the conflict, continued attacks on its territory and its energy sector could prompt Riyadh to retaliate directly, according to four sources speaking to Reuters .
Iran’s Assembly of Experts are expected to meet on Sunday to select the country’s next Supreme Leader following the assassination of Ali Khamenei last Saturday.
Israel threatened to assassinate members of the clerical body responsible for selecting the next successor if they convened.